nead in the day of battle. As the view of home animates the weary traveller, or the sight of the harbour enlivens the tempest-tossed mariner, so the helmet of salvation enlivens and cheers the combatant for a spiritual crown. It is so highly esteemed by him that he would not relinquish it for all that earth calls good or great. He is never more qualified for the conflict, or happy in its prosecution, than when looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and his Saviour, Jesus Christ. With Paul, he knows what it is to be saved by hope, for hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost given unto him. Is your hope, then, derived from and directed to the living God? If so, cherish and foster it by every means in your power. It will enable you to say, even when for the moment you are worsted and your enemies are beginning to shout their diabolical triumph, “ I shall not die, but live, and declare the goodness of the Lord." Soldier of the cross, having this helmet, fight on, and if by reason of the arduous nature of the contest you begin to falter and decline, then revive and chide yourself, as did a Christian warrior in ancient times: “ Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance and my God."

But if any of you are unacquainted with this helmet and unanxious for its acquisition, then you are without God in the world, and have neither the prospect nor assurance of success; and remaining and dying in this state the foe will grasp you at last and bear you away to a state where your sufferings will be indescribable and unceasing.

But I exhibit to you another part of this armour of righteousuess, and one of transcendant excellence. I refer to "the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." Our blessed Lord used this weapon against the tempter in the wilderness, with divine and complete success, and his people in every age have found it to be eminently efficient and powerful: for while it successfully parries the thrusts of the foe, it strengthens the hand and solaces the heart of him that uses it. "I had perished in mine affliction," said David, "unless thy law had been my delight; I will never forget thy precepts, for with them thou hast quickened me." Thus this sword qualifies for the conflict and crowns with victory too; use this celestial weapon aright and your triumphs will be manifold and complete. "The word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the dividing asunder of the joints and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." It is moreover "mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds, and the casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

That you may discern the invaluable properties of this piece of armour, imagine the Christian warrior tempted to pride and ambition. He unsheathes his sword and reads engraven thereon, "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble." Surveying and believing this, the temptation passes Or suppose him tempted to anger and revenge, he looks again at the heaven-attempered instrument, and sees the inscription, "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good:" "Let not the sun go down upon your wrath." These inscriptions check the evil suggestions, and by their influence he is enabled to do good to them that despitefully use him. Or suppose the Christian

away.

soldier harassed with the thought that he has fallen short of the promises through unbelief; he turns to the word of God, and cries with one of old, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief;" and supported by the immutable promises of divine love, though faint he continues pursuing. Or does the enemy intimate to him that it is immaterial what his thoughts and feelings are, if he but strictly attend to the forms of religion? He repels this device of his grand adversary by citing the inscription legibly engraven on the sword divine grace has bestowed: "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Or does the crafty foe urge upon his attention his manifold deviations and transgressions? He turns to the word of God, and finds a cordial against despair in such blessed promises as these: "Come now, and let us reason together: though your sins are as scarlet I will make them white as and though red as crimson they shall be as wool:" "Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." Thus by the sword of the Spirit he chases a thousand, and puts ten thousand to flight: he goes on from conquering to conquer, until he exchanges the sword for the wreath of victory.

snow,

Let me urge it upon you, then, that are fighting the battles of the Lord, to place unlimited confidence in this weapon. It is the product of Omniscient skill, and with it you may fearlessly face the hosts of darkness. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, and you shall often subscribe to the sentiments of the Psalmist, "Thy statutes have been my song in the house of my pilgrimage." "O blessed Lord, who hath caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning, grant that we may in such wise read them, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life which thou hast given to us in our Saviour Jesus Christ." If you would be crowned with victory, consider the address delivered to Joshua as directed to yourself. "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."

In addition to the shield of faith, the hope of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, the weapon of prayer must be called into requisition. This weapon terribly affrights Satan; he "trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees." And while it alarms the enemy, it strengthens and brightens every other part of the armour of salvation. Prayer in faith has performed many wonderful and stupendous prodigies. It has opened the windows of heaven, and refreshed the parched and barren soil with plentiful showers of rain. It has caused water to gush from the flinty rock, has given sight to the olind, cleansed lepers, healed the sick, raised the dead, and convulsed the earth, opening gates of iron, transmitting imprisoned spirits to a joyful and glorious liberty. In short, it has brought the Holy Spirit from the bosom of the Father, through whose divine agency there has been realized a 66 peace that passeth all understanding," a "joy unspeakable and full of glory." So that the great secret of success consists in "praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit." Would you triumph, then, you must cling to the horns of the altar, must give yourself to the word of God and prayer. Like the vestals, you must live at the altar.

Such are the instrumental means of victory: the direct and immediate cause of a successful termination of the contest is the power and grace of the adorable

Redeemer, the inhabitation, guidance, and renewing energy of the Holy Spirit. That declaration of our Lord, "Without me ye can do nothing," is ever true in its application to the Christian soldier. Look then to Jesus, your glorious Leader, your unceasing Advocate above. It has pleased the Father that in him all fulness should dwell, that you out of his fulness might receive grace for grace. Never cease entreating that he would keep you by his mighty power through faith unto salvation; for his all-sufficient aid is graciously promised, and has never been withheld when sincerely sought. When the enemy cometh in like a flood, he can lift up an effectual standard against him ; and however powerful and oft-repeated the temptation, he can deliver you out of it. I dare not promise you the least portion of success unless you are distrusting yourselves and relying on an Almighty Saviour: to triumph you must live by faith on the Son of God, must commune with invisible and eternal realities, must ever desire and value the grace of the divine Spirit, by whom the feeble become as David, and David as the angel of the Lord. In this way the Church triumphant has attained its sublime elevation, and, conscious of their unceasing indebtedness to their divine Deliverer, they cast their crowns at his feet, unitedly exclaiming, "Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and that hath made us kings and priests unto God and the Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever."

Having shewn you the path to victory, I place before you, thirdly, THE FELICITY CONSEQUENT UPON THE OVERTHROW OF YOUR ENEMIES. "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death." The glory of heaven is much more frequently described in negative than in affirmative terms. You are taught that there is no night, no pain, no care, no death there; but you are not so directly taught what is there. "Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man to conceive, what God has prepared for those that love him." And of all the negative descriptions of the saints' future dignity and glory, there are few that are more sublime and spirit-stirring than that in the text. Enlisted under the banner of the cross, your spirit shall not be hurt of the second death. The day of judgment will present the affecting scene of many at the left hand of the Judge, who shall be adjudged to that terrific doom, "Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness, where there is weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth;" but the victorious saint shall be exempt from that condemnation. The ages of eternity will unfold the agonizing scene of the guilty and impenitent host of sinners suffering where the worm dieth not, where the fire is not quenched; but the conquering believer shall never pass into that abyss of woe. The sufferings of the lost in hell are described by the term "second death," to intimate to you the eminence and perpetuity of their sufferings. The first death that sinners experience, the death they suffer in this world, is always unattended with the light of the divine countenance and the scriptural hope of immortal bliss; and is in some instances connected with remorse the most bitter, and suffering the most intense. But this is soon over; then comes the second death, tribulation, wrath and anguish, separation from the throne of God, the glory of heaven, the bliss of eternity; the sorrows of a full cup are wrung out to them: it is the second death, the unceasing experience of the most intense agony. Girt with the armour of salvation, fighting on the Lord's side, you shall escape

all this.

As there are, however, but two states, if the soldier of the cross is not to be hurt of the second death, the delightful conclusion is at once apparent: he shall be ushered into eternal life. Indeed he is not hurt by the first death, the death he suffers in this world: in his case to die is gain; absent from the body he is present with the Lord. Such is the sublime recompense accruing to the Christian warrior. Was ever recompense more animating, more glorious? To be exempt from every species of suffering, to have access to all the sources of joy, to occupy a mansion in the city of the living God, to possess the wreath of victory in association with the pure, the spiritual, the holy; to grasp the sceptre of royalty in the imperishable kingdom of the Most High; to sit with the ever-blessed Jesus on his bright celestial throne, as he also has overcome, and is set down at the right hand of his Father? these are the fruits of holy perseverance.

Arise, then, Christian, and pursue thine heaven-ward way: thy glorious Captain calls thee to conquest and a crown. Hear his gracious voice, follow in his steps. Remember he has promised, and is able and willing to support and strengthen you, and make you more than conqueror. Then humbly, fervently, implore the power of His arm, the communication of His grace, who is omnipotent to save and bless. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Quit yourselves like men; assured at no distant day the crown of life shall be thine to wear and enjoy. Those holy intelligences that minister to the heirs of salvation, shall bear thy spirit through the fields of space into the third heavens. The everlasting doors shall fly open; the eternal gates be lifted up; thou shalt breathe the air of paradise: the harps of the redeemed and glorified shall greet thee; thou shalt be arrayed in a garment of immortal beauty; the fruits of immortality, gathered from the tree of life, shall be set before thee; you shall possess undecaying energy, and be declared the heir of an incorruptible inheritance: the complacent smile of your glorious Saviour will rest upon you: his heavenly voice you will hear, saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Behold I will make thee a pillar in the temple of my God, to go no more out for ever; and I will confess thy name before my Father, and before his holy angels." What a consummation! Who would not struggle a few short days to inherit so rich a reward, to wear for ever so bright a diadem! It is to this holy conflict and with the assurance of this recompense I now in the name of the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, invite you; I call upon you while you live to oppose moral evil in all its forms and modifications; to glorify God that you may enjoy him for ever. Abstaining from this conflict, your profession of religion is a fallacy and a dream; for the promises of heavenly grace are made only to the warring and overcoming. Abstaining from this conflict, ere long you will be hurt of the second death; you will sink into its horrid darkness, realize its bitter pains; from your anguished spirit the piercing exclamation will be extorted, " The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and I am not saved." But fighting this good fight of faith, your success is certain, your recompense inconceivably great. Take up the weapons of the holy war, then; add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge temperance, and to temperance godliness; so an entrance shall be administered to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

TIMES OF REFRESHING FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORI).

REV. W. B. LEACH,

ROBERT STREET CHAPEL, GROSVENOR SQUARE.

"Times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord."—ACTs, iii. 19.

THE lovely religion of Christ, whilst addressed to the understanding, expands and exhilarates the best feelings of the heart. Derived from Him in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and who is full of grace and truth, it comes to us, not merely as a system of doctrines and morals bearing the broad seal of divine authority, and the force of the most convincing evidence, but it is so benignly constituted, that with all the sublimity of a most beautiful science, it addresses itself to every man's bosom, and is adapted to every rank, condition, and event. Thus it becomes a source of the highest joy to us both in this world and in that which is to come, leading us to the fountain of light, life, and love, imparting a good hope through grace which is like an anchor to the soul both sure and steadfast, and placing full in our view the bright, attractive outline of the "far more exceeding, and eternal weight of glory" which lies beyond the grave, and which emanates from the inheritance of the saints in light. Hence godliness is profitable unto all things having the promise of the life which now is and of that which is to come, thereby forming a way of pleasantness and peace, and leading to a glorious consummation in a blessed immortality. What that consummation will be, is but partially disclosed, and that by visional representations and figurative allusions; as eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. We may, however, venture to conclude, that though we contemplate the heavenly state through a glass darkly, yet, as it is the abode of God and the Lamb, the home of angels who have never sinned, and the celestial crown of our discipleship, it will infinitely exceed our most enlarged expectations.

But notwithstanding the interposing veil which separates the heavenly world from our mean abode who dwell in houses of clay, and which prevents the prying eye of curiosity from gazing too intently upon the Holy of holies, there are some beams of glory which shine upon that veil with so much brightness from within, that we enjoy the reflection even here without in the church below, for " in God's light we see light," and "light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." Thus as the children of Israel had a foretaste of the productions of the promised land, even before they reached it, by the grapes of Eschol, which were brought to them in the wilderness, so it is the peculiar privilege of the saints, as fellow heirs of the grace of life, to enjoy